The purpose of the program is to gain valuable insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by Belleville’s manufacturing sector by conducting in-person interviews with manufacturing leaders.
A BR+E program is considered to be a best practice in economic development worldwide. The City of Belleville has been doing BR+Es since 1999, with the last manufacturing BR+E taking place in 2012.
A BR+E project is a community process that is guided by a volunteer task force, chairperson and a BR+E coordinator from the City’s Economic Development staff. Community volunteers are trained to visit businesses and conduct confidential interviews with senior management and owners.
Information received from previous BR+E projects have resulted in projects with long-lasting impacts on our City. Examples of these projects include:
- Family Physician Recruitment Program
- Upgrades to the City’s water mains, wastewater system and fibre optic services
- “Work in Quinte” labour attraction initiative
- Several downtown community improvement plans and projects
“In this post-COVID environment it is vitally important that we understand how our municipality can best serve and support the growth of our manufacturing sector,” said Mayor Neil Ellis. “The feedback received will provide the City with timely and important information which will inform our future economic development and attraction activities, as well as the City’s capital budget planning process.”
The strength of the BR+E process is that it is community-based. It is a powerful consultation process with community volunteers, not consultants guiding the process. Task Force Chair, Rick Jeffrey, is a community volunteer and member of the City’s Economic Development Committee.
Through these face-to-face interviews, the City will receive timely and important information to help identify and support the current and future needs of its business community, help shape our Economic Development Strategic Plan and inform investment attraction activities.
The current BR+E is expected to be completed by April 2024. It is anticipated that the results of the BR+E and an action plan will be shared with the community at a public celebration in June 2024.
“Belleville has a strong track record with it’s BR+E program and our manufacturing sector is no stranger to the program and the results it can deliver,” explains Director of Economic Development Heather Candler. “We want to better understand the challenges and opportunities our manufacturers are facing in this post-COVID environment and look forward to hearing more from them about what the City can do to support their success.”
If you are a manufacturer or a business that primarily services the manufacturing sector within the City of Belleville and want to learn more, please contact Victoria Watts, Business Growth and Retention Specialist at 613-967-5260 or email: business@belleville.ca.
More information can also be found at: Belleville.ca/BRE.